Reports of any deaths. And just over the mexican border, much of texas, as we know, is under a flood watch with whats left of patricia, the concern there that it will bring, of course, even more rain to a state that has already been pounded. Our correspondents are on the ground in mexico and texas on storm watch. Want to begin with Nbcs Joe Fryer in ecstapa, south of where Hurricane Patricia made a direct hit. Joe, good morning to you. Reporter good morning, jeff. Hurricane patricia has weakened considerably with many breathing a sigh of relief up and down the coast, but the Mexican Government is warning people to not let their guard down as this historymaking storm moves through the country. With the grace of a sledgehammer, Hurricane Patricia reached land, winds swirling at 165 miles an hour. Images taken by tourists hunkered down in hotels showcase the driving rain, swelling seas damage reports quickly surfaced. Washedout roads, toppled trees and uprooted highway signs. Some of the most dramatic video comes from manzanillo, a resort destination about 50 miles from where the hurricane first made impact. While the most violent part of the storm appeared to hit sparsely populated areas, it was still a wild ride for tourists stuck in the popular beach town, Puerto Vallarta. We have our water, we have our food, were going to be in meditation and sending prayers for the area. Reporter Hurricane Patricia is not just strong, the storm is huge, spanning a 170mile stretch of mexicos popular coastline. More than 7 Million People in this storms path. Stunning images from space show patricias size, while images from inside the storm show patricias violent fury. Hurricane hunters flew through the eye, collecting valuable data right before patricia reached land. At one point, winds had reached 200 miles an hour, the strongest storm ever measured in the western hemisphere. Even though it weakened a little, patricia is still the strongest hurricane to ever touch down on Mexicos Pacific coast. The extent of damage, especially in isolated areas, wont be known until later today when crews can assess everything in the daylight. Overnight, mexicos president said that the first reports indicate that the extent of damage is less than expected so far for a storm of this magnitude. Jeff and erica . Joe, thanks so much. Certainly could have been so much worse. Well check back in with joe later. We will. Joining us by phone is diana parkalfred, an american in Puerto Vallarta this morning. Diana, good morning. Good morning. So, give us a sense. We know you were evacuated from your hotel yesterday, but then actually back there by 9 30 last night, as i understand it. Whats the damage like that you can see, both at the hotel and on that ride back from town . So, we expected the worst, and everybody at the hotel evacuated us early in the morning. They were supposed to keep us in the ballroom. However, local Police Authorities had been ordered to send us out, so we had to evacuate to the nearby university, and the damage was very minimal, very surprisingly. We feel very blessed. But in about 11 hours, we were able to head back on the buses back to the resort. And the damage i mean, its pitch black out here, but theres not a wind blowing in the palm trees right now. How do you feel it was all handled . Youre an american. I know youve watched reports of different storms of varying magnitudes affecting the u. S. But as youre dealing with the response there in mexico, how do you think it was handled . So, i think that the staff of the hotel, they were very helpful. We were very impressed with everybody. A little bit of confusion, excited and scared and nervous, and they did a very good job of facilitating everything. It was unbelievable, though, how the u. S. Is getting so many different reports and stories, and were getting texts from family and phone calls, and we were just anticipating the worst. So, im not sure how that correspondence happened, and everyones saying its the worst, its the worst, and we actually got lots of rain but not too bad of any of the 200mileanhour. So, dodging a bullet there. It did move a little bit and didnt end up hitting puerta vallarta, as you mentioned. You mentioned how wonderful the staff had been at the hotel. Had they talked at all about their families or locally, if they were able to check in with some of their loved ones and let you know the sense that they got from them . Yes. So, i mean, they gave us updates as often as they could while, you know, serving food. And the general manager of the hotel shared with us that he was away from his family. His son was still at the hotel. Everything was okay here so that we could get back. So, they did always ask for us to pray for the people who got hit hard. From what we understood it was manzanillo. So, we were very blind out there, working on whatever we could, getting updates, but we felt pretty sheltered from there. Well, glad to hear that everyone who was in your immediate vicinity doing well and that the folks there who live there yearround are doing okay, too. Diana parkalford, thanks for your time. Thank you. Good to see shes okay. As we said, mexicos not alone this morning. Residents in texas are dealing with what forecasters are calling lifethreatening flooding. Overnight, police have been rescuing stranded vehicles and telling drivers to get off the roads, find a parking lot and even sleep in their cars. As Hurricane Patricia is going to turn things from bad to even worse. Nbcs Janet Shamlian live in dallas with the very latest. Janet, good morning. Reporter jeff, good morning to you. We are getting hit by another band of heavy rain right now, 16 inches in the town of corsicana last night. It shut down a portion of interstate 45 for a while, impacted thousands of people who are traveling through the citys two airports, and now we are awaiting for whats next. And despite the warnings for people not to drive through the water, rescuers lives were put in dangers last night by people insisting, or at least try inging to do it. Heavy rain and flash flooding soaking cities across texas. This is corsicana, about an hour south of dallas, where high water shut down interstate 45. Around the city, rescue after rescue. I was pretty much Holding Around her waist and then holding on to the metal on the bridge, and then just trying not to let go. I have a female and her 3yearold daughter, shes advising that the water is up to her vehicle. Reporter across the north and eastern parts of the state, a deluge. Some motorists ignoring the warnings, ateamtempting to drive through the rising water. You can see how the rain just never stops. Reporter the system hobbled air travel. More than 500 Flights Canceled at love field and dfw airports with a Ripple Effect across the country. As much as 10 inches of rain. Texas has been dry for months, so its not all bad news. Here in dallas, theyve had more rain in the past day than theyve picked up since july 4th. The drought came roaring back late summer, so this is a big help for the farmers and lowers the fire danger. Reporter but this morning, a second, perhaps more dangerous threat the remnants of Hurricane Patricia could deliver flooding in Southeast Texas and along the coast. Houston has gone to a level 1 alert. It is a dangerous event. We will have a lot of rain in a very short period of time. Reporter a hardhit region now bracing for what could be round two. So, what happens now . Well, this system is supposed to be moving out. We havent seen that yet. And the focus moves to Southeast Texas, places like houston. While patricia has been downgraded to a category 1, it still could bring flooding to the coast and to cities like houston and beaumont, because it takes nothing at all for it to flood there. Well be watching it from there, coming up. Guys, back to you. All right, be safe there. Janet shamlian, thanks. Dylan is back now with more of a forecast for patricia and what it could mean for the folks in texas, as janet was giving us little bit of a preview there. Yeah, keep in mind, since this was the third strongest storm ever on earth, it has a lot of moisture with it. So, even though the storm is weakening as far as winds are concerned, it still has a lot of moisture, and thats going to run into texas. Now that the storm, though, has made landfall, and its moving over the mountainous terrain of mexico, winds have now dropped to 75 miles per hour. Its picked up forward speed, its moving northeast at 21 miles per hour. And as this area of low pressure continues to get closer to southern texas, thats when were going to see heavy bands of rain today, through the morning on sunday, then eventually it moves off into louisiana, where we could see some flooding in lowlying areas as well. The rain thats moving through texas right now is all thats from dallas to waco, austin. In some areas, weve already picked up more than a foot of rain, so we do have Flash Flood Watches in red. We have actually warnings in red, Flash Flood Watches in the greener color there, because of the torrential downpours that will be reinforced once the remnants of patricia make their way eastward. So, we could end up with as much as an additional 7 to 10 inches of rain in some areas. Coastal flooding will be an issue as well as that water gets pushed onshore, so we could see some concerns right along the coast as well. Jeff . All right, dylan dreyer, thank you so much. Now to our other big story, the race for the white house. Hillary clinton trying to keep the momentum going after what political analysts say was a very good week for her, while on the republican side, donald trump is on the attack yet again against another rival, as jeb bush is searching for answers. We have two reports on this busy morning. We begin with ron allen, whos covering Hillary Clinton. Ron, good morning to you. Reporter good morning to you, jeff. That test is in iowa, a huge Democratic Party gathering later tonight, the Jefferson Jackson dinner, where the candidates will try to pack the room with supporters and make a huge political statement, as Hillary Clinton tries to build on what some are saying could be a huge step forward for her campaign. Hello, everybody reporter in virginia, Hillary Clinton enjoying what looked like a victory lap after leaping several huge hurdles. That congressional hearing about the attack in benghazi, libya, that left four americans dead. Ive lost more sleep than all of you put together. Reporter that after Vice President biden decided not to challenge the former secretary of state. Two other competitors have dropped out, and an endorsement friday from the union that represents government workers. All following what many say was a strong showing by clinton at that first democratic debate. Its great to be here with you. Reporter last night in an exclusive interview on msnbc, Rachel Maddow asked clinton what she did after that marathon benghazi hearing, some 11 hours on the hot seat, more than 300 questions. I had my whole team come over to my house, and we sat around eating indian food and drinking wine and beer. Reporter but today, no kicking back, as clinton returns to iowa, where the last time she ran for president , clinton lost a lead in the polls and ended up losing to barack obama in the first state where voters actually voted. History that bernie sanders, now in a tight race with clinton in iowa, hopes to repeat. Last night, sanders trying to get some momentum going at a socalled feel the burn rally. If we win here in iowa, and i think weve got a good chance to do it, and if we win in new hampshire, and i think weve got a good chance to do that, we have a road to victory. Reporter and for clinton, benghazi still is not over, with the fbi probing whether classified information was mishandled during the investigation. And another challenge for clinton, polls like a recent nbc news wall street journal survey saying only 26 of those asked gave clinton high marks for honesty and trust. Jeff, erica . Ron allen, thanks. Turning now to florida, where republican contender donald trump lashed out at a rally in florida overnight amid new polls that say hes losing his lead to ben carson, this as jeb bushs Campaign Begins to show cracks with a reboot and a staff shakeup. And there is word hes hunkering down with his brother and father in houston this weekend. Nbcs Hallie Jackson is in jacksonville, florida, this morning. Thats where trump is holding another Campaign Event today. Hallie, good morning. Lots going on on the republican side. Reporter yeah, definitely a busy morning, erica. Today were seeing donald trump taking the gloves off against ben carson. And today were also getting some new reaction from team carson about all this. At his rally in miami, we saw donald trump, despite repeated interruptions by protesters, press on with this speech in which he talked about not just ben carson, but about his poll numbers specifically in iowa, where carson appears to be surging. Thats what weve seen in a couple new polls, including the bloomberg Des Moines Register poll showing carson up about nine Percentage Points over trump. Trump took aim not just at carson, but at the polls, too. Listen. I dont believe those polls, by the way, because both of those pollsters do not like me. We have a breaking story, donald trump has fallen to second place behind ben carson. We informed ben, but he was sleeping. Ben carson is super low energy, right . Its super. Hes super low. Super low energy. We need reporter well, today the carson team is responding. A top Campaign Aide telling me that dr. Carson was not just awake but wide awake when the results of those polls were announced. Low energy, of course, is an insult that weve heard before from donald trump against jeb bush, and now bush himself is dealing with some campaign issues. Hes on a kind of course correction, cutting salaries, shifting around staff and resources, a sign that his campaign is acknowledging that the strategy used so far simply isnt working. And it puts some pressure on bush at next weeks debate. Thats turning into a real makeorbreak moment for him. Hes got to show that he can move the needle. In the days ahead of that debate, erica and jeff, weve learned that he will be holding some private efforts with supporters in texas, and hes getting some president ial star power, too. His brother and father, the former president s bush, will be joining him. Guys . Hallie jackson for us this morning. Hallie, thank you. Turning now to new clues in the hunt for the gunman in that deadly shooting at Tennessee State university. Good morning. Police have released newly analyzed footage of the attack at Tennessee State university that left one person dead and two wounded. The video from university surveillance cameras shows two people opening fire outside the campus center. Police are still searching for some of those involved. They say its not known if the person killed was one of those shooting. The incident was said to have been sparked by a dispute over a dice game. There are new accusations against bill cosby, as two more women come forward with claims of Sexual Assault or misconduct by the star. The attorney for the two said that she has also been contacted by even more women prepared to come forward. The two women joined more than 50 who have come forward so far with allegations dating back to the 1960s. Bill cosby has denied previous allegations and has never been criminally charged. Prison authorities are reporting an attack on colorado theater gunman james holmes. According to a Corrections Department spokesman, holmes was assaulted by fellow inmate mark daniels while the two were being moved within their colorado penitentiary. No injuries were reported in the attack. Holmes was sentenced to multiple life terms for the massacre at an aurora, colorado, theater that left 12 dead and 70 wounded. And in major league baseball, it will be the Kansas City Royals taking the American League spot in the upcoming world series. The royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays 43 before a hometown crowd to seal the deal in game six of the American League championship. Kansas city will now face the mets, hosting the new york team in the first game of the world series on tuesday. Guys . I remember when i was a kid, 1986, being in my living room with my parents. I grew up on long island. It was a big moment when the mets were in. So, sorry, kansas city, but lets go mets im watching kansas city. So id be like, wait, wait, wait thats good. It will make for a nice rivalry. There you go. A friendly rivalry at today. Thanks. Dylans got a further check of the weather. Yes. We are looking at cooler temperatures to start working into the middle of the country. Theres a cold front moving in, the same front thats been causing all the heavy rain recently in texas, and then with patricia moving in, we are looking at more heavy rain. We could even see some scattered showers around the great lakes, then it cools into the 60s behind that front. Time of year and thats your latest forecast. All right, dylan, thanks. Still to come on today, catching you up on the week in news, from Oscar Pistorius leaving prison to that shocking video of a driving smashing into a motorcycle, and a big week for all the back to the future fans. 30 years after the movie became a cult classic, weve got a look at all of it and a few more things in the download. But first, this is today on nbc. Whos